Israel had made a long, circuitous journey from the time they left Egypt till they arrived at the plains of Moab opposite Jericho. The circle of their wilderness wanderings was just about to be completed. Israel had returned almost to the place from whence they started forty years before. In all their journeys, their wanderings, their miraculous experiences, their Divine provision along the way, their guidance by the presence of God in the pillar of cloud and in the pillar of fire, it seemed Israel had not gone anywhere. They were no further along in the conquest of their heritage than they were forty years before. This is exactly how it seemed.
In the same manner, the church of Jesus Christ has had her history and journeys these two thousand years. But it may also look like we have not gone anywhere, considering that we had the first move of God way back on the day of Pentecost, and several mighty visitations afterwards. When one considers how mighty those visitations were, it may seem that we’re almost back where we started, and that the circle is about to be completed; but the reality is that there’s a big difference!
Yes! Blessed be God forevermore, there is a huge difference. This time we are under a new General. The old has passed away; the new has come with the supernatural. Moses, the man of God, has gone. We’re now under a new Commander. We’re now under Yeshua, the Man of war. This time, we march forward and go all the way. This time we take the whole land in one fell swoop. We cannot fail this time around, because the “captain of the host of the Lord” is now leading us to victory. (Josh 5:14).
This time, the Son of God goes forth to war, riding upon a white horse, and with a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth. And the armies of heaven that follow Him are riding upon white horses, with two-edged swords in their hands also. This time, we go forth together, conquering and to conquer. We go forth, completely subduing the enemy and capturing the territory that Christ purchased for us two millennia ago. This time, we step into the heavenly realm, and possess our heritage in Christ Jesus. We march into that which we have long talked about, admired, and claimed to possess, but never really appropriated.
As we stand, like Israel, on the plains of Moab, facing Jericho but on the other side of Jordan, we know the hour has come—the hour to cross Jordan to the other side and by force possess our possession! We have known the leading of the Lord these two thousand years. Like Israel in the wilderness, we have gone from encampment to encampment, from seasons of revival to times of lukewarmness and then back to seasons of awakening. But a new “generation” has arisen in the Israel of God, and she’s about to make her move under the leadership of our new Commander, Yeshua the Anointed One.
The church of Jesus Christ has indeed passed through several stages in the two millennia of her existence. She has gone through persecutions and deliverances, testings and perseverances, battles and victories, mountains and valleys, and apostasies followed by seasons of awakenings and refreshings. She indeed has been in the wilderness like Israel during her exodus from Egypt.
Dear fellow pilgrim on the road to the promised land, the admonition for us today is not new. God has already painted the complete picture for us in the prophecy of Scripture, mapping out the road to victory in the wilderness and the sure way to bring us to our full inheritance on the other side of Jordan. First and foremost, the Lord bids us continually remember that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord shall man live.”
To overcome in this wilderness and have good success, we must pay attention to the word of God and obey Him. We must exalt His word above all others and above all issues and circumstances, however dire they may look. We must trust and rely on Him, and act and behave in line with His words, even when the Red Sea is in front and Pharaoh’s army is furiously pursuing behind. We must speak and act to affirm that His word is true. We must not dishonor His word. We must not murmur like they did.
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
“And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
“But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
“Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor 10:1-11).
We see that the journey of the generation under Moses through the wilderness was but a prophetic shadow picture of the journey of every believer. It describes the things we pass through on our way to maturity. This is why the Scripture states that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor 10:11)
When Israel was brought from their homeland by Joseph during the great famine, he settled them in the land of Goshen. The place was known as Rameses. It was an area with the highest-quality land in Egypt (Gen 47:11) Here, Jehovah was declaring the “end from the beginning.” He was declaring what the land of promise which He would eventually give to them would be like (Isa 47:10). Likewise, God is leading us to a life of blessing, prosperity, and joy.
“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
“And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians” (Num 33:1-3).
The first encampment after leaving Rameses was Succoth. The word Sukkoth literally means “tent” or “temporary dwelling.” This is the same word used for “chag sukkot” or the “feast of Tabernacles.”
Moses packed the bones of Joseph, which they carried with them to the land of promise, according to the oath that they made with him (Exod 13:19,20). The oath they made with Joseph was a testimony that he believed, for sure, that the God of Abraham would visit them and take them back to the land of Canaan. Their carrying the bones was also a declaration that God, who had brought them to Egypt through Joseph, would surely take them back with Joseph’s bones to the land of promise. By the prophetic word, the pack of bones they were carrying would make it to the land of Canaan and join Jacob’s, buried there by Joseph, a few centuries back.
So they left Rameses, made their way to Etham, and camped there. After Etham they went to Pihahiroth, and after that they stopped at Marah, which means “bitterness” or “rebellion.” We too must deal with the bitterness of rebellion. There’s a lot of bitterness in many of God’s people because of the sore difficulties they’ve experienced in their journey through this wilderness. But God wants all to know that the wilderness is not meant to destroy us or make us bitter, but to prepare us. It’s meant to get us ready for the prepared place. A prepared place requires a prepared people, a sanctified people, totally disciplined in heart and soul: a people prepared for the Lord.
The land of rest prepared by God requires a people whose hearts are right and whose souls are spirit-disciplined. It’s not for the mixed multitude that would murmur, grumble, and complain at every sight of inconvenience or when denied some toy of the flesh. It’s not for those ruled by a spirit of rebellion who would not submit to the leading of the Spirit of God, but were governed by their senses. It’s not for spoilt crybabies, but for the meek and mature children of God and soldiers of Christ.
“And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
“And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them” (Exod 15:23-25).
Let Marah be a lesson for you and me that we should not grumble or murmur against God. Even when life is bitter and harsh, we should learn not to be rebellious against His word. Sometimes we think we know better than God how to do things, especially when things are not working out as we expect. We get bitter and wallow in self-pity, bemoaning ourselves. This is because we do not truly believe that God always has our best interest in mind and that His plans are the best for us. Even when we’re starving or thirsty in the desert, while He’s the one leading us, there is a reason. There’s a way out of the quandary if we trust Him and don’t fuss, grumble, or rebel.
God hates murmuring and grumbling, even when it seems we have cogent reasons to do so. Remember Marah. They were in the desert, over a million of them with infants and elderly, and they traveled on foot for three days looking for water to drink and found none. And when finally, after three days, they found water and rushed there to drink, lo and behold, the water was bitter and undrinkable. And God was leading them!
Humanly speaking, would you say they had a reason to complain? How many of us, believers, Holy Ghost–filled, tongue-talking, Bible-believing Christians, would not have murmured and complained if faced with half of what they were faced with at Marah? But God would not take it from them. Do you think He would accept that from you or me?
“How did they get to Marah?” someone would ask. Was it Moses that took them there? Was it Aaron? Who led them there?
No! It was not Moses. It was God Almighty that led them to Marah. They didn’t lead themselves: He led them there. Listen to what Moses said in his final message: Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him” (Deut 8:3-6)
In the same manner, He’s leading you and me in this wilderness. He designed Marah to uncover and flush out the undesirable junk in you and me. And it’s for our own good, if we just keep following as He leads. Only He knows the ways through this wilderness.
There’s a song we used to sing in our middle-school Christian fellowship about forty-three years ago that summarizes this. And there was even one of our leaders that loved this song so much the brethren nicknamed him “Bro Follow-follow,” because every time he led worship, we sang this song. The words of the version we sang go like this:
My Lord knows the way through the wilderness,
All I have to do is to follow
My Savior knows the way through the wilderness,
All I have to do is to follow
Strength for today is mine all the way
And all that I need for tomorrow,
My Lord knows the way through the wilderness,
All I have to do is to follow.
Chorus
Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus
Everywhere, anywhere, I will follow on
Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus
Anywhere He leads me, I will follow on.
(Sidney E. Cox & William Orcutt Cushing)
The people followed the glory of God in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The glory of God led them through the wilderness, and in the same manner, He must lead us through this wilderness until we enter the land of rest. As He leads, wherever He goes, we must follow, and follow Him all the way.
“And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed” (Num 9:21-22).
They traveled in an orderly formation, moving slowly through the desert sands. Each tribe precisely positioned, their footprints marking the desert terrain as they trekked to an unclear destination. At the center of this great mass of people was the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the holy dwelling of Jehovah. Moses had convinced Him to go with them.
“And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth” (Exod 33:15-16).
“And he said, My Presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” (Exod 33:14).
One thing we are sure of, in the midst of the upheavals in this present evil world, is that God Almighty is with us. He will never leave us. In fact, He’s the one leading the way. All we need do is trust, obey, and keep looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb 13:5,6). Let our minds be settled on this: that if we pass through the fire or walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He’s there with us. He, the fourth man in the fire, will always be there for us through thick and thin in this wilderness.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. That is to say, people who lack vision perish because of their own lack of vision. Moses “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb 11). How did Moses endure affliction? The Bible says he endured by looking at Him who is invisible.
Moses did not fix his eyes on his circumstances. He surely had many of them, if he wanted to, but he endured all his trials and afflictions because he saw Him who is invisible. He had a vision of God and saw God’s plan and purpose and therefore fixed his eyes on it. That vision of God kept him and carried him to victory. The Amplified Bible renders this verse as “He never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him who is invisible.” Another rendering of the verse, from the New International Version, reads, “By faith he left Egypt not fearing the king’s anger, he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” Moses continue to press forward toward the vision that he saw in the invisible realm. He heard the voice of God, experienced the supernatural at the burning bush, and from then on began to press forward.
Dearly beloved, let us keep our eyes on Jesus our forerunner, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and let us therefore keep pressing forward toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Onwards and upwards we go. Looking back to the good old days can damage our vision as people of God. It hinders progress, because God is moving us, His people, upward and forward to new realms in Himself, and He’s not restoring the revival of yesterday. For He says, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isa 43:19).